Brian Reese wins Democratic primary runoff in Georgia's 1st District

Brian Reese wins Democratic primary runoff in Georgia's 1st District

ATLANTA - Brian Reese of Savannah has won the Democratic nomination to seek the U.S. House seat being vacated by Republican Rep. Jack Kingston.

Reese defeated Amy Tavio of Richmond Hill in a runoff election Tuesday in the 1st Congressional District that covers most of southeast Georgia. Early, unofficial counts showed Reese winning 63 percent of the vote.

Kingston stepped aside after 22 years as the district's congressman in order to run for the Senate. That may give Democrats their best chance in years of picking up the seat. However, the district was drawn to strongly favor Republicans.

Republicans also needed a runoff to choose their nominee to seek Kingston's seat in the fall election. State Sen. Buddy Carter of Pooler faced Bob Johnson, a Savannah surgeon backed by tea-party groups